The Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation last night recognized the City of Andalusia with its 2012 Preservation of Small Towns Award.
The award was presented at the group’s Birmingham conference “Lighting the Way for Preservation: Saving Historic Icons.”
City clerk John Thompson accepted the award on behalf of Mayor Earl Johnson, who was committed to attending the LBW graduation when the Alabama Trust extended its invitation.
Birmingham landscape architect Dale Fritz of Dale Fritz and Associates, Inc., nominated the city for the award.
“Andalusia has been very visionary in their approach of preserving and adaptively reusing historic buildings,” he said. “Serving as the cornerstone of an era of restoration and progress in Andalusia and Covington County, is city hall, formerly Three Notch Elementary School.
“After a two-year restoration project, the doors of Three Notch Elementary opened as City Hall and showcased a new vision for the community that included preservation and more saved buildings,” he said. “This city has demonstrated that the preservation of historic places does make life better.”
Thompson said it was an honor for him to represent the city.
“These are really cool people who are doing interesting things all over the state,” he said. “It’s exciting that they recognize and honored what we’re doing in Andalusia.
” The preservation, in particular of East Three Notch and Church Street Schools and Springdale provide many benefits to all the citizens of Andalusia,” Thompson said.
The Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation is a grassroots advocacy organization committed to preserving Alabama’s historic assets, which includes neighborhoods, sites, and structures, in order to address the key issues of economic development sustainable communities and the preservation and conservation of Alabama’s cultural assets.
The group holds a lyceum each summer, and plans to visit Florence this year.
The group has expressed an interest in holding its lyceum in Andalusia next summer.